This invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, a guide frame displaying controlling method and a computer program, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus having a configuration for presenting a guide frame indicative of a region of an image to be recorded actually in an image display section for confirmation of a picked up image such as a viewfinder set to a video camera or a display unit, and also to a guide frame displaying control method and a computer program.
In recent years, a high definition (HD) image, that is, a wide image, has been and is being used popularly as an image for being presented on a television receiver. The wide image has an aspect ratio (ratio between horizontal and vertical dimensions of an image) different from that of a conventional standard image (standard definition image).
For example, the standard image has an aspect ratio of 4:3 while the wide image has another aspect ratio of 16:9. In recent years, television receivers having a display screen having an aspect ratio ready for the wide image, that is, the aspect ratio of 16:9, have been and are increasing. Also among contents distributed for use with such television receivers or contents recorded on recording media such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), contents ready for the wide image of the aspect ratio of 16:9 have been and are increasing.
Under such a tendency as described above, also with regard to video cameras used by general users, those products which can record an image of the aspect ratio of 16:9 have become available. Most of existing video cameras not only have a function of picking up moving images but also have a function of recording a still image as a snap shot of picked up images. As a recording medium of image data, a video tape, a DVD, a hard disk, a flash memory and so forth are available. Some video cameras have a function of making use of such various recording media to record moving images and still images on different recording media or to record both of moving images and still images on the same recording medium.
Although, in image recording of moving images, image recording of the wide image of the aspect ratio of 16:9 is prevailing, in image recording of still images, image recording of the standard image of the aspect ratio of 4:3 is used generally. For example, also in the fields of silver salt photographs and digital still cameras, the aspect ratio of 4:3 is used widely.
Most conventional video cameras are formed such that they have an image display section for confirmation of a picked up image such as a viewfinder or a liquid crystal display section set therein and record an image displayed on the image display section as it is as a moving image and a still image.
Among image display sections such as a view finder and a display section set to video cameras, those having an aspect ratio set to 16:9 have been and are increasing together with the popularization of display units and contents ready for the wide image in recent years. However, if it is tried to record a still image of the aspect ratio of 4:3 using a video camera having an image display section of the aspect ratio of 16:9, then the still image to be recorded does not coincide with an image displayed on the image display section. This gives rise to a problem that the user cannot accurately decide an image data region for a still image to be recorded actually.
In particular, if it is tried to apply a video camera having an image section of the aspect ratio of 16:9 to record a still image of the aspect ratio of 4:3, then a region which is not included in the still image of the aspect ratio of 4:3 exists on the opposite left and right portions of the image display section of the aspect ratio of 16:9. This gives rises to a problem that the user cannot accurately decide a recording region of a still image based on an image displayed on the image display section.
On the contrary, if it is tried to record a moving image of the aspect ratio of 16:9 using a video camera having a display section of the aspect ratio of 4:3, an actually recorded image of a moving image does not include image portions in upper and lower regions of the display section. Also in this instance, a problem arises that the user cannot accurately decide a recording region of a moving image.
Some video cameras in recent years have a function for changing over between recording of moving images of the aspect ratio of 16:3 and recording of still images of the aspect ratio of 4:3. However, in such video cameras as just described, in order to change over the image pickup mode, for example, from a mode for recording moving images of the aspect ratio of 16:9 to another mode for recording still images of the aspect ratio of 4:3, a power supply switch or a mode changeover switch must be operated. This mode changeover process is an operation cumbersome to the user who tries to pick up images, and considerable time is required therefor. This gives rise to a problem that it increases the possibility that an image pickup opportunity may be lost.
A video camera with a still camera which includes a video camera and a silver salt still camera in combination and allows simultaneous recording of a still image during image pickup of moving images is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-31353. The video camera with a still camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-31353 has a configuration which uses a guide frame to display a difference in angle of view between a moving image and a still image.
According to the video camera with a still camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-31353, the angle of view indicative of the image pickup region where the video camera with a still camera is utilized as a still camera is normally set on the outer side of the angle of view indicative of the image pickup region where the video camera with a still camera is utilized as a video camera. However, the video camera with a still camera does not have a configuration for changing over the aspect ratio between 16:9 and 4:3. Further, in the video camera with a still camera, the same display frames are indicated permanently but are not updated in response to a changeover process of an image to be acquired. Therefore, the video camera with a still camera has a problem that a recording image region to be used in response to changeover of an image to be picked up by a user cannot be decided immediately.